


Counting Chirps

by conceptstage



Series: Critical Fiction [14]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Mollymauk Lives Fest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 13:43:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15864792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conceptstage/pseuds/conceptstage
Summary: Molly and Caduceus have a fireside conversation.





	Counting Chirps

“So, where do the bugs come from?” Molly asked in the quiet of the night.

Caduceus startled from the sudden noise, he’d been counting the cricket chirps. He’s gotten to 574 but now he’d have to start over. “The bugs? My beetle children?”

Molly cringed visibly. “Sure. Your children.”

“Well, I raised them from eggs.”

“So they’re real bugs? I thought they might have been fey bugs like Frumpkin.”

“And who is Frumpkin?”

Molly stared at the firbolg for a moment like he was trying to decide if he was joking or not. “Frumpkin. The cat. Caleb’s cat.”

“Ah, I see. That is a good name for a cat. I like it. To answer your question though, yes they are real bugs. They live in my staff.” Caduceus held the staff out and turned it over so that Molly could see inside the hollow wood. It was hard to see in the flickering fire light but Molly could definitely make out movement inside and the occasional glint of carapace. 

“That’s kind of cool,” Molly said. “And they listen to you?”

“I have a telepathic connection to them, as I do with many animals.”

Molly hummed thoughtfully and looked over at Beau’s owl who was perched up in a nearby tree and watching the two of them with glowing eyes. “What is Fuckface up there thinking right now?” Molly still got a kick out of the owl’s name but he tried to keep his face straight.

Caduceus looked up and smiled softly. “She misses her mistress. She gets nervous when she cannot see her. Fear not, kind Fuckface. She is sleeping. Yes, the diurnal are a strange bunch.”

“Can you hear Nugget from out here?” He knew for a fact that Nugget was sleeping in the tiny hut, blinking back and forth from sleeping on Jester’s stomach and Beau’s back.

Caduceus nodded. “He is dreaming. And warm. He feels loved.”

“What about Frumpkin? The cat,” he reminded him again. “He’s a fey creature, can you hear him?”

Caduceus got a perplexed look on his face. “The cat is… strange. He is part of Mr. Caleb and yet also separate. Some of his thoughts are his own and some are his master’s.”

Molly took a moment to let the implications of that hit him. “Woah, wait. You mean to tell me that you can hear Caleb’s thoughts through his cat?”

Caduceus shook his head, then nodded. Then shook his head again. “It is not… thoughts as such. I cannot hear words. It’s more like residual feelings. For instance, I can tell that he is having a nightmare right now but I cannot know what it is about. Ah, he is wishing to wake up. Shall I wake him?”

Molly stood up. “No, no, I’ll get him. You, stay out of his head.”

“I am not in his head.”

Molly huffed as he walked by. “Then stay out of Frumpkin’s. If you read anything about him don’t say it out loud, even to him, even if someone asks. Alright?”

Caduceus nodded and went back to counting chirps when Molly disappeared into the tiny hut. One. Two. Three...


End file.
